There Goes My Hero
by Ariele Dawntreader
Summary: Trunks enters high school in what would be his senior year and finds a girl there that everyone says is a witch. but who is she really? and why would Vegeta and her father not get along?*chap 4 up*
1. Something New

Author's Note: Nizyuuichi means "twenty-one" in Japanese. Please ask any other questions in reviews. ^_^

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~~~ There Goes My Hero ~~~

Chapter One: Something New

-School-

It hadn't really been his decision—to go to school. It had been his mother's, as things usually were. And when Bulma came into his room that morning bright and early at seven o'clock, he began to entertain thoughts of murder... whose murder he wasn't sure of. Maybe if he met an annoying kid at school....

"Mother. Let's re-think this, huh? I mean—"

"No chance, Trunks. Get moving. This is your only year left to go, anyway. And _you're _the one who wanted to get away from the pressures of the job and the press. So come downstairs and eat some breakfast before you have to leave."

He really was not keen on the fact that it was, to him, the crack of dawn and he was being rushed out the door, but at least now his mother was doing something else besides working in her lab all day. _She actually came into my room this morning to wake me up. _He shook his head, _Amazing. _He got up and looked in his closet. All suits. _I guess I'd better get some more clothes, huh? _But after a little digging, he found some old training sweats and a t- shirt. He smiled, 

"I guess this won't be so bad after all." He came downstairs and inhaled his breakfast. As he was heading towards the door, Vegeta came out of the gravity room and he almost bumped into him. "See ya, dad." 

"Just where are you off to? You're usually just getting up at this hour."

"Oh. School. Mom didn't tell you?"

A grunt, "The woman never tells me anything." He rolled his eyes, "Well goodbye."

"Bye." He gave a short wave and walked out the door, heading for his car. 

"I hope you'll do your best to welcome Mister Briefs—"

"Just 'Trunks' thanks," He did his best to smile at the teacher and then glanced around the room. It was a large lecture hall, and about thirty girls stared dreamy-eyed back at him. _Oh boy. I forgot about this part.... _But then he noticed a girl sitting practically by herself, seeming nonplussed by his presence. She was looked down at her notebook, not really paying attention. He ran a hand through his hair and listened to the voices of people volunteering a place beside them for him to sit. 

"Why don't you sit, uh, over there, by Katie." The professor directed him to a seat next to a pretty brown-haired girl who was chewing loudly on some gum. 

"Hiya!" She said cheerily. The girls behind Trunks' back were staring at her enviously. 

"..Now take out your books and we'll begin section one: anatomy of the ameba."

Groans from the rest of the class. _Oh well, this is better than work..._

"So, Trunks! What made you decide to come to school this year?" Katie asked him after school, chomping on a new piece of gum. He flinched when he heard her voice behind him—she had proved to be insanely annoying throughout all his classes. But he was saved when a couple of guys he had met at lunch came over to him in the parking lot, 

"Hey, Katie. Want a ride home?"

"Oh, sure Brian!" She began to twirl some locks of hair. "But what about you, Trunks?"

"Yeah, what about you, man?" 

"Oh, uh, I drove myself this morning." He smiled and then caught sight of the shy girl he had seen earlier today. He motioned towards her, "Hey-who's that? I didn't see her except for this morning. I didn't see her at lunch with any friends or anything."

"Oh, _her." _A guy named John said just a tad maliciously, "She calls herself Nikki," He said, circling around to face Trunks, "But everyone knows her real name is Nizyuuichi." He paused and looked over at the girl, who was walking away from the school and then back at Trunks, "And, uh, you wanna know something interesting?"

Trunks nodded mutely, his eyes still following her retreating back.

"There's been a rumor going around since when she came here last year that she's a witch." 

"A witch?" Trunks laughed, "What the hell?" 

The guys and Katie laughed with him, "Well, you know. Just a rumor..." John looked at the others with a smirk, "But she's still way weird."

"How?"

"Well for one thing, her name is Nizyuuichi! Who names their kid that? Another," He started, perching himself on a car, "She never talks to anyone. I mean, _anyone._ She has no friends, belongs to no other activities outside of school, and sits by herself in class and at lunch." 

"So how does that make her a witch?" Trunks asked, still smiling at their ridiculous assumptions. "And has anyone ever tried to talk to _her_?" 

"Of course!" Chimed in Katie, "We tried to say hi and stuff her first day here and she only looked daggers at us with those weird eyes of hers!" 

"Yeah, that's another thing, man, she's got like these freaky black eyes!"

Trunks shrugged, "My dad has black eyes, and he's not a witch!" He laughed again, "Guys, you're a real crack-up." He slapped John and Brian's back as lightly as he could without sending them halfway across the parking lot and smiled at Katie. "I'll see ya tomorrow." He unlocked his car and threw his books in on the passenger's seat. He revved up the engine and heard Brian's voice when he wound down the window, 

__

"He'll find out once he's been in classes with her enough..."

"Yeah, he didn't even hear half of it! How could some girl be so strong?"

He shook it off and pulled out of the lot, giving a final wave to his newfound group of friends. 

The next morning Trunks was in a much better mood, actually enjoying going to school wearing comfortable clothes instead of going to work wearing constricting suits and worrying about getting reamed out by his mom for flying out the window for lunch. As he pulled up to school, he thought about how he really needed to go shopping soon. He only had about two more pairs of normal pants left in his drawer. 

When lunchtime rolled around, he sat with John, Brian, Katie and a couple of other girls. And then he saw her—Nikki—she was sitting by herself as the others had told him she did all the time. Again, he couldn't get a good look at her face because her back was towards them, but he could spot her shock of pure black, long hair anywhere, especially since she was sitting alone. His friends noticed where his gaze was aimed and John nudged him, "Why are you so interested in her, Trunks? Think she's hot or something?" Chuckles from around the table.

"No. She just seems so... mysterious. It's like she fits in with the crowd, but yet you can't miss her." He said bluntly, his face crinkled in thought. The others looked at each other and shrugged. Then one girl name Gina stated loudly, 

"It's because she's a witch! I guess she naturally has that effect on people." The girl smirked as the people around her giggled. Trunks noticed Nikki move her head slightly, as if she had heard the comment. And then she turned her head just a little, allowing Trunks a quick glimpse of one of her eyes that was partially hidden by her hair. 

Familiarity. He knew her. How? He had no clue.

"Guys, couldn't you be a little more polite about your stupid notions?" He said, a bit annoyed with their rudeness. Everyone looked surprised,

"Sorry, Trunks. But honestly, I don't think she cares. And if she did, maybe she should actually open her mouth." He raised his voice towards the end of his last sentence and Trunks frowned.

"Whatever." He said, and tried to shake it off.

****

-The Dare-

After school that day, Trunks was heading out to his car, not planning on hanging around for his friends when John's voice stopped him. 

"Hey, Trunks!" He jogged to catch up to Trunks' place in the lot.

He saw Nikki walking the opposite direction, her hands deep in the pockets of her light sweater. And then the strangest thing happened: he tried to feel her ki and realized he couldn't feel one. It wasn't just that she was weak—she had no readable ki. He frowned in exasperation. He turned to John, who was tapping on her shoulder.

"Hey, man, I think she's got you under a spell or something." He grinned and Trunks' expression finally changed.

"So what did you want?"

"Oh yeah. The guys and I came up with an idea—a way we can prove our point about how weird the girl is. No one has ever done it. You up for a bit of a dare?" A sly look came over his face, and Trunks' smile faulted again.

"What?" He snapped. John held up his hands,

"Hey, you don't have to do it. It's just something we thought might convince you that we're not idiots."

Trunks looked back where Nikki had been walking and nodded, "So what's your idea?" His face lightened.

"Follow her." John said simply, "No one's done it before. So now you can come back tomorrow and tell us all where she goes after school and if she talks to anybody."

"I'm not going to stalk the girl for Dende's sake!"

"No, no, dude! I'm not talking following her everywhere, making sudden noises behind her and freaking her out or anything like that! We're just saying that you see where she lives and stuff—you know, does she even have a family?"

Trunks sighed and looked from where Nikki had been to his car to John and the others behind him, "I guess so."

John hi-fived a reluctant Trunks, "Cool. Now are you going to do it today or tomorrow?"

"I guess it's now or never." Muttered Trunks and jogged off down the street.

"He's gonna do it, guys." Said John.

"So brave..." Murmurs of agreement spread around the slowly emptying parking lot. 

A/N2: So how'd you like? Please leave reviews! If I get enough, the next chapter might be longer. ^_^


	2. Close Encounters

**~~~ There Goes My Hero ~~~**

Chapter Two: Close Encounters

-First Encounter-

Nizyuuichi stopped abruptly and Trunks tensed behind her in his position in the air. Without turning around she said, "Don't you have better things to do, Briefs, than witch-hunting?" She spoke in an eerily calm voice, a voice that was strangely familiar to him. He raised an eyebrow, _How did she know it was me? And for that matter, how did she even sense me behind her? _

She turned around finally, "Something wrong?" She asked in a bemused tone, but getting slowly annoyed. He remained silent. "Look—either answer me or leave me the hell alone!" She was practically yelling now. Trunks opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find a good excuse for following her so he stayed as he was. "Ah. Ok, fine. I think I'll go now. I don't feel like waiting around for an answer, but also you didn't bullshit your way through it, so you must be alright."

"How—did you know my name?" 

She laughed in his face, "Gee, I don't know. Maybe because you're the most famous human on the planet." She paused and eyed him up, "Well, half-human, anyway." She began to turn to go again, "And I'm not sure if I'd call you a 'man' either." She smirked. _Half human... How would she know that?_

"Hey! You wouldn't be insulting me now would you, little-miss-witch?" 

It was her turn to raise her eyebrows, as she looked back at him sideways, "Maybe you can prove it to me some other time." Her voice held a seductively questioning tone to it but Trunks was still wary of her. _That voice... _

Nizyuuchi turned on her heel and walked away. 

When Trunks came to school the next day, he avoided all eye contact upon seeing Nikki walk from the parking lot into the building. He got out of his car and was immediately greeted by John, Brian and Katie. 

"So what'd ya find, big guy?" Asked Katie. Trunks flinched at her voice—he'd never get used to its chirping.

"Well, I couldn't really find much out because she turned around and uh, well she kinda yelled at me for following her."

"SHE TALKED TO YOU?!" Came all the voices of his friends. He scratched the back of his head with a free hand,

"Well... yeah. She seemed kinda pissed off that I was behind her." He frowned slightly, and aimed his next comment at John, "I probably would be mad if someone was following me, too." He rolled his eyes and began walking towards the school. But the group trailed behind him a little later,

"_Somebody _seems a little cranky this morning."

"Yeah, why does he care about her so much? It's like he actually cares about our harmless teasing."

"What's up with that? It's just Nikki." 

His friends thought that he couldn't hear their remarks, but then again, they didn't know that he was a Saiya-jin with acute hearing. 

Lunch was close to mental torture to Trunks when he came to the full realization that he _had _to know Nizyuuchi. He just had to. That jet-black hair and those eyes... so close to him somehow, and so damned _familiar. _Everyone was asking about him about his 'meeting' with her and he was ready to smack the next person who blurted, "She talked to you?!" 

And then later another guy at his table suggested that he follow her again and try to talk to her some more. Trunks was about to refuse when he thought suddenly that it would be another opportunity to find out more about her. 

Just when everyone thought that Trunks had to have some sort of supernatural control to get her to talk, Nikki surprised them even more. That afternoon, during math class, the professor was trying to graph something on the coordinate plane and got stuck. After five boring minutes, he finally turned to the class and asked, "Who can tell me what I've done? I've obviously made a mistake. So let's just see which of you geniuses can solve it for me."

No one responded and then Nizyuuchi muttered, "The slope..."

Professor Akira turned suddenly from the board again and exclaimed, "Who said that?"

Brian pointed silently to Nikki who had her hand covering her eyes. Akira turned to her, "You! Nikki! What did you say?"

The girl looked up and around her and then back at the professor, "The..." She cleared her throat, "The slope—it's not two, it's five." She stated quietly. The whole class became quiet, and a few girls let out small gasps. Nikki only stared at the board until Akira fixed the problem before going back into her own world of seclusion. 

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-Second Encounter-

"What are you doing now?" Nizyuuchi whirled around to face her persistent follower.

"Going home."

"Capsule Corporation sure as hell ain't this way, Briefs." She pointed to the building in the opposite direction, "See? It's the big high rise building with the domed mansion attached to it."

Trunks tried to look somewhat hurt, "You know, I came to school hoping I'd be able to feel normal... so the press wouldn't follow me around, and so that people wouldn't harass me because I'm well-known."

"Brilliant idea, Einstein!" She chuckled. His face reddened slightly,

"Hey, you're not insulting my intelligence, are you, miss-I know what's wrong with your example, professor." He teased her, and then it was her turn to be embarrassed. She turned around,

"Whatever. See ya around, Briefs."

"Wait—"

"What?"

"Couldn't you just—"

"Yes?"

"...Call me Trunks."

She smirked, "Sure thing, Trunks. Whatever you say," and walked away.

__

You know, she isn't that bad looking. He thought, admiring her form as she stalked off. _Not that bad at all._

A/N: sorry this isn't really long, but I'm writing it and I haven't checked to see if there are any reviews yet, so I apologize if someone is disappointed. ^_^ Sooo, they've met. Who is she, _realllly? _And why does Trunks feel like he knows her somehow? Stay tuned.


	3. Stray Dog Strut

A/N: I'm borrowing the title of this chapter from an episode of Cowboy Bebop. PLEASE DON'T SUE. I DON'T OWN IT OR GET MONEY OFF IT! And remember: the more reviews I get, the faster my hands fly over the keyboard! ^_^ Also—A piece of Easter candy for SHADOW PHOENIX for knowing who the girl is!! I thought I made it a tad obvious, but for those of you who don't know yet—here it comes!!!!

~~~ There Goes My Hero ~~~ 

Chapter 3: Stray Dog Strut

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-"...Otoussan would not be pleased."-

"You mean you backed down again?" Brian asked incredulously. "She's that bad?" His eyes widened.

"What do you mean, 'backed down'?" Asked Trunks, who was becoming rather tired of the whole situation. He could've just let it go with his friends and moved on to other things, but he... he _couldn't. _That was the thing. He was determined to find out who she really was if it took him his whole senior year. They were standing in the parking lot as usual that morning when Nizyuuchi walked close-by.

"Hey, Trunks." She said with a glance in their direction. As she passed, the scent of lilac swept by them. _Dende, she smells good. That outfit...Damn!_

"H-hi," He murmured as she continued walking towards the building briskly. Everyone stood around him speechless, their eyes still following the girl into school. When she was out of sight, John turned to him.

"Dude. You _have _to keep going with this. She said 'hey' to you!" 

"Yeah I know..." Trunks replied, still looking after Nikki's path. "This is going to sound weird, but I think I know her somehow. You know, like one of those things when you're little, your parents have friends who have kids..." He trailed off when he realized he was talking to himself aloud. He cleared his throat and began walking to class, "I'll let you guys know how it turns out I guess." 

Then came lunch... as usual. Except this time, it brought with it the biggest kicker of all for Trunks and his new friends. Trunks had arrived in the cafeteria earlier than normal and sat down at what had become he and his friends' table. He bought his usual enormous lunch and was heading back to his seat when a slender finger poked his back. He turned around and accidentally knocked Nizyuuchi's fries off her tray.

"Gomen nasai!" He cursed himself inside his head and helped her pick up her tray. "Here, take mine..." He searched the mound of food and gave her his fries.

"Daizyobudesu. Domo..." And she smiled as he handed them to her. It caught him off-guard and he started to blush. _Why do I feel like I'm thirteen years old? _ He looked at his table and saw it begin to fill up.

"Care to join me?" 

"Hai. I wanted to ask you something anyway," She smiled again and walked boldly over to the table a little ahead of Trunks, receiving stares from everyone sitting. But she sat towards the end of the table where no one was sitting and Trunks followed suit. He plunged into his food, thinking bleakly that he would have to deal with eating only one meal every four hours. He was so lost in his food that he barely caught Nikki's first comment.

"Just like a Saiya-jin warrior, I'm assuming..."

He looked up at her and watched her eat her french-fries, just sitting there cool as a cucumber. He ignored what she said, his mind getting closer and closer to the final realization of whom she reminded him of. "So, uh, what did you want to ask me?"

Ears perked up from the other end of the table, and it was almost painfully obvious how much they were eavesdropping. 

"I wanted to know if you'd be seeing Marron Chestnut any time soon."

Trunks nearly choked, "Uh, well I don't know. I usually only see her from time to time at Capsule's parties." He swallowed the now hard lump of food in his throat and continued, "Why do you ask? You know her then?"

Nikki shrugged, "Haven't talked to her for a while now. Just thought you might be able to give her a message for me."

"I could try..." He was practically falling out of his chair, waiting for a clue and his friends looked like they were about to burst from the suspense.

"Good." She said in an abruptly giddy tone, "If and when you see her, tell her that her Nizyuuchi says hi and that I'd like to try and get together with her now that I'm permanently living in the area. Ok?" 

Trunks nodded mutely and for a moment his eyes landed on the low neckline of her shirt. _Oh, man! Just stop thinking like this or you're never going to find out_ _who she is! _He cleared his throat and crushed his trash on his tray. Nikki was finished as well and he offered to take up her trash. She smiled that haunting smile of hers for the third time that day, swung her long, ebony hair out of the way, stood up, and promptly gave Trunks a peck on his slowly reddening cheek.

"Thanks, Trunks. That'd be great. I have to go now, though...lost and found...see if my biology binder's there." But when she came close to his ear, she whispered suddenly, "Stay away, Trunks. Otoussan would **not **be pleased." And kept the pleasant look on her face and strolled out of the cafeteria. If he had looked around, Trunks would have seen every student's eye fixed on him that minute and the mass of teenagers strangely quiet. But he didn't look around because he was deep in thought. _Why wouldn't her father be pleased? Toussan! I've got to ask papa! He's the only one who could possibly piss someone off so bad that they wouldn't want their children associated with them. Or maybe it's the other way around... _

****

-Home-

He hid his ki this time—he was heading home with her whether she or her blasted father approved or not. He followed her as she walked far from the school, leaving the limits of Satan City. But he had to be careful not to gasp when she looked around and then took to the air. _Yeah, papa without a doubt knows her father. _He didn't want to follow her into the air though! She could obviously sense ki's even though she apparently had none that accompanied herself. He sighed and just ran faster, keeping his eyes above him. After a lot of running, she had landed near a small, secluded house. _Damn that's a hike every day! _And then he wasn't thinking, and came very close to the bushes and trees near the door. Her head shot around and she looked directly at him, 

"Didn't you hear me, Trunks?!" She whispered sharply. Then the door opened and Trunks' guess was proved right after all. He still couldn't help but wonder, though. _How the hell...? No one knew! _

"Who you talking to, angel?" 

She kissed her father on the cheek, "Just a stray dog that followed me home, papa. He's gone." She smiled up at him from her place on the porch and Juunanagou smiled back down at her. 

A/N2: So what's going to happen with ol' Trunksie and his father's enemy's daughter? ^_^ You'll see, I promise.


	4. Decisions

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to put this out, please forgive me and tell me what your thoughts are after this chapter. ^_^ ~ Moon

**~~~THERE GOES MY HERO~~~ **

BY: MOON DAWNTREADER

Chapter Four: Decisions 

"I Say We Get to Know Each Other a Bit Better..."

"So how are you fairing after the shock? You haven't said word one to me since yesterday." Nizyuuchi asked nonchalantly from behind him in the lunch line. He spun around quickly. _Damn these Androids for having unreadable ki. _He tried to smile.

"I'm doing quite well, actually... probably much better than anyone else would, however if they saw who your father was. Now I know why Toussan wouldn't be very happy to know that I'm hanging out with you." He moved forward in the line while Nikki continued from behind him.

"Hanging out with me, Trunks?" She said in that voice of hers that made Trunks shiver. "We barely speak in school, and you've followed me home successfully only once." She laughed and people around them seemed to stop and stare at the "witch-girl" who had somehow befriended one of the most popular guys in school. Trunks blushed and paid for his food.

"Yeah, well I guess you're kinda right there, huh?" He smirked, "So what are we going to do about that, huh?" He stood and cocked his head to one side, looking mischievous. Nizyuuchi blinked at how absolutely stunning he looked, standing there like that. _Oh, Papa, why did you have to make so many enemies?_

"Trunks..." She started, but faded away, not sure of what kind of excuse to make—after all, she'd never been close to anyone except her father, and what the hell? Didn't she deserve this?

"I suggest," Trunks started, walking back to their table with her, "That we act on this, Nick."

Nick?

"And how exactly do you plan on this?" 

"Well, Nick, I say we get to know each other a bit better. We should see a movie together, have lunch on the weekend... have a little friendly spar...?" He said in a low voice, a smile creeping up on his face. 

Nick.... I like it, but I'm not sure if Papa would be ok with his plans. 

"Well, Trunks. That's very nice of you, but I think I'm going to have to do what you men call 'playing hard to get,' because with all the risks involved, I think you're going to have to seriously prove to me that you're worthy." She said with a smirk.

"Worthy?" Trunks almost yelled. _I knew that would get him. Insult his pride... it always works on a Saiya-jin. _

"Yeah, exactly." She couldn't help but laugh at the look that had planted itself on Trunks' face. He finally caught on,

"I'm glad you're trying to be funny, Nikki, I'm real glad. I can imagine that Juunanagou is pretty much serious all the time and all... but let's get down to business." He shoved more food down his throat.

"'Get down to business'?"

"Yeah... when are you free? What would you want to do?"

Nizyuuchi sighed, "Trunks... you don't get it, do you? We can't be friends. It's just not done. You ever read Romeo and Juliet?"

Trunks looked at her hopefully and nodded, "Yeah... see they were star-crossed—"

"They both killed themselves. It was a stupid play." She said dryly. Trunks sighed and plunked his head down on the table dramatically. 

"Aw, come on, Nick! Just one date!" He pleaded.

"Date, eh?" 

Trunks gulped. Nikki smirked. 

"Well then I guess we can try... but if it gets messed up in any way, and if your papa or mine finds out, we're both screwed and I never speak to you again." She said somewhat gravely. Trunks nodded.

"Right... We'll just have to be really careful." He said seriously, then grinned, "Saturday then. We'll decide where to go later." He crumpled up his trash and took it up to throw away. When he came back, Nizyuuchi was surrounded by the girls at their table, including Katie, whom he had found to be the biggest gossip spreader in the school. He rolled his eyes and made his way through the small crowd. "All right, break it up."

"Trunks! Are you and ... er... Nikki really dating?" A girl asked him. He swore she was from the school newspaper. 

"Leave us alone... NOW!" He raised his voice slightly, and all those who didn't want to get on Trunks Briefs' bad side scuttled away, leaving only a few pesky stragglers, who left soon after. 

"Trunks... you see why this can't happen?" Nizyuuchi whispered sadly, and didn't give Trunks a chance to answer because she walked away quickly with her own trash, and didn't come back. _Damn it! _

A/N 2: OH THE ANGST! Sorry that was so short! But I had to end it here for melodrama... ^_^ Don't worry, I'll be updating this sooner than I did the last time. Please review!


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